This invention is concerned with a system for feeding a batt of staple fibers to a rotating toothed roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,074 discloses a high speed system for converting a batt of staple fibers to a uniform light weight random web, wherein a batt of staple fibers is fed to a rotating toothed roll that disperses (strips) fibers from the batt and projects these dispersed fibers at high velocity and low angle into a stable air stream of uniform velocity and low turbulence to form a thin fiber stream which is condensed against a moving screen to form the aforesaid web. The step of feeding the batt to the toothed roll involves the use of a feed roll rotating in the opposite direction to but at a lower surface speed than the toothed roll and converging the fibers against the toothed roll. A stationary shoe is provided downstream of the point of closest clearance between the feed roll and toothed roll, the shoe forming a narrow space between the shoe and toothed roll to permit the dispersion of fibers to follow the surface of the toothed roll but being closely fitted against the feed roll to support it during its rotation. Unfortunately, despite the close fitting of the shoe with the surface of the feed roll, which forms a pinch point where the feed roll enters beneath the shoe, stray fibers tend to follow the feed roll into the pinch point and form fiber wraps on the feed roll. These fibers wraps, if minor, translate into nonuniformities in the air-laid condensed web; if major, they clog the space between the feed roll and its shoe, causing the entire process to shut down.